Gift from the Heart
by Heavenly Pearl
Summary: For Mitsuru's birthday, Ritsu surprises her with a special gift.


Gift from the Heart

"I swear, that man is going to be the death of me someday!" I muttered to myself as I got out of my car and began fishing for my apartment keys in my purse. "And today is my birthday, too! For _once_, couldn't he act like a responsible adult and actually hand in his work on time without sending me on a wild goose chase? At least on my birthday? Is that too much to ask?"

The man in question was one Sohma Shigure, the bane of my existence. Every time I finished dealing with him, I truly felt like curling up in a ball and dying, as death seemed the only way to be forever rid of him and his so-called "amusing" practical jokes. The higher-ups at the publishing company I worked for refused to assign him another editor; I think the mostly male staff rather enjoyed seeing me suffer at Shigure's hands. It was either that, or else they just didn't want to deal with him themselves, which I couldn't exactly blame them for.

At least my boss was kind enough to give me the rest of the day off -- his birthday present to me, he had said. An even better birthday present would have been to send someone else to Shigure's to pick up the next chapter for his upcoming novel for me, but I would take what I could get. I intended to spend the rest of the day in bed, contemplating how long it would take before the gods took pity on me and finally ended my misery.

Apparently, it would be even sooner than I thought. As I reached for the doorknob to unlock my apartment, I noticed that the door had already been unlocked. I was always very careful about locking my door before I left, so that only meant one thing: an intruder.

_So, this is how I'm going to die, _I thought, reaching for the can of pepper spray I always kept in my purse. The idea of calling for the police never even crossed my mind, so strong was my current death wish. There had to be something deeply wrong with me if I would rather confront a burglar/rapist/murderer alone and unarmed than spend one more day as Sohma Shigure's editor, but I didn't stop to think of the implications of that thought as I pushed open the door and stepped inside.

"Who's there?" I demanded to know. "Show yourself right now."

My heart began to race faster as I heard a loud, clanging noise coming from the direction of the kitchen. I raised the can of pepper spray up to the level of my eyes, my finger on the nozzle, and prepared myself for the end.

An end, as it turned out, that was not to be.

When I looked inside the kitchen, I was greeted not by the sight of a burglar in black, stuffing a bag with my good china, as I expected, but by a man so incredibly beautiful, a person would presume at first glance that he was actually a woman. In fact, I knew him to often dress in women's clothing, which he claimed helped calm his nerves, but today he wore blue pants and a button-down white shirt, his long blond hair pulled back into a low ponytail at the nape of his neck. I thought he looked wonderful no matter what he wore, but I had to admit I enjoyed seeing him in more masculine clothing for a change.

"Rit-chan, what are you doing in here?" I asked, bending down to clean up the plate he must have dropped in surprise when I called out.

His eyes widened as he looked down at me. "I'M SO SORRY, MITSURU-SAN!" Ritsu shouted. I, having grown accustomed to his overreactions whenever he thought he had done something wrong -- which was often -- didn't even blink. "I WANTED TO SURPRISE YOU WITH A BIRTHDAY DINNER, SO I CAME OVER WITHOUT ASKING AND BROKE YOUR FAVORITE PLATE! I'M THE WORLD'S WORST BOYFRIEND! I'LL LEAVE RIGHT AWAY, AND YOU'LL NEVER HAVE TO SEE A PATHETIC GUY LIKE ME EVER AGAAAA--"

The one thing I appreciated about Shigure, besides the fact that he provided me with a paycheck that was far too small for the agitation he caused me, was that he had taught me the secret trick to calming his cousin down whenever Ritsu was in one of his states. All I had to do was poke him in the side, which I did now, causing Ritsu to fall in a mild fainting spell.

"Rit-chan, are you okay?" I asked, kneeling down beside him as he came to.

He blinked his eyes a couple of times and nodded. I then helped him sit back up, glad that he had fallen a few feet away from the broken plate.

"I did it again, didn't it?" he sighed, his eyes falling on the shattered china. "I'm always ruining everything."

"Don't be silly. You didn't ruin anything," I said, smiling. Now that I was over my shock, I truly was happy to see him.

"But I should have called first before coming over. It was terribly rude of me to come over without asking. You probably think --"

I placed a finger on his lips, sensing another round of unnecessary apologies coming on. "Remember that movie we watched a couple of weeks ago? What did I tell you?"

"'Love means never having to say you're sorry'?" he quoted from my all-time favorite American move, _Love Story_.

I grinned, pleased that he had remembered. "Exactly."

"B-But your plate --"

"It doesn't matter," I assured him. "Plates can be replaced, and I _want _you to feel like you can come over to my place any time you want. That's why I gave you the key. I was just surprised to see you here today, that's all, but it was a _good _surprise."

"Really?"

I stood back up and helped pull him up from the kitchen floor. "Really."

For the first time since my arrival home, Ritsu smiled. He truly reminded me of an angel whenever he beamed like that, so beautiful and serene.

"By the way, happy birthday," he said, reaching for a small, festively-wrapped box I only now noticed sitting on the kitchen counter and handing it to me. "I wasn't sure what you wanted, but I hope you like it. Tohru-san helped me pick it out."

"As long as it's from you, I'm sure I will love it. May I open it?"

He nodded, and I began carefully unwrapping the shiny blue wrapping paper to reveal a small velvet box inside. I gasped, realizing that it had to be a piece of jewelry.

"Rit-chan…"

"Go on," he said, encouraging me to open the tiny box.

With shaking hands, I did so, speechless when I saw a diamond heart pendant inside, nestled among the black velvet. I had never seen anything so incredibly beautiful in my entire life, each stone sparkling as if there were tiny fireworks bursting inside them. The sheer beauty of it brought tears to my eyes.

"You hate it, don't you?" Ritsu asked, misunderstanding the reason for my tears. "I knew I should have asked you what you wanted, but Ayame-nii-san told me that girls liked to be surprised on their birthday, especially with jewelry."

I shook my head, finally able to find my voice again. "No, I love it," I said. "Really, Rit-chan, it's beautiful. Thank you."

"You really do like it? You aren't just saying that to spare my feelings?"

In response, I took the necklace out of the box, handed it to him, and turned around. "Help me put it on?" My hair was short enough that I didn't have to hold it out of the way as Ritsu placed the necklace around my neck and fastened the clasp. When he was finished, I turned back around to face him. "How does it look?" I asked.

Ritsu reached for the pendant, but his eyes were focused solely on me as he one word.

"Beautiful."

DISCLAIMER: "Fruits Basket" is the property of Takaya Natsuki.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This fic was written for the 15pairings community at LiveJournal, Theme: Apology, and the 2009 Winter Challenge at .moon, Theme: Gift.


End file.
